X 



o\' 



1882.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



r 



Fresh Work in an Old Field. 



Akin to the jov a collector feels on tiiid 

 ing a bird unknown to science or new to 

 his section, is the j^leiisure of findin<i; the 

 nest and eggs of a Sunnuer resident which 

 has hitherto escaped his notice. It may 

 have eluded us for years, but, once found, 

 the chanc-es arc that we shall not now have 

 much trouble in taking it again and again. 

 Each year the circle of otir observation 

 grows narrower, btit tliere will always re- 

 main some local desideratrt to stimulate 

 further search. 



iSix years I collected before I found a 

 Blue Yellow-backed Warbler's nest. Since 

 then, with their range and peculiarities 

 known, I can take more of their eggs than 

 of the commf)n Summer Warbler. I have 

 not found Rails breeding here untU this 

 Beason when, after special search, I took 

 three sets of nine eggs each. Now, with 

 their somewhat restricted habitat at my 

 command, I can probably take their eggs 

 every year if there is any use for them. 

 WUson's Thrush is by no means the com- 

 mon \)ird in Summer in Southern Connect- 

 icut it is in Massachusetts and northward. 

 June 9, I found my first nest in the swamp 

 on Groton Long Point. The pure emer- 

 alds of the Thrush were dwarfed by the 

 presence of two large Cow-l)ird's eggs. 

 The nest was peculiar in being well raised 

 from the ground by dry leaves stufted into 

 the uprights of a spoonwood clumj) which 

 snugl}- suiDported the structiu'e itself, thus 

 corresponding in date and position with a 

 Western type found by Dr. Coues near 

 Pembina, Dacotah, on the Red River of 

 the North. Three years ago I left an unde- 

 termined set of Gromid-building Warbler's 

 eggs because I could not shoot eitlier par- 

 ent. This year I took a nest and five eggs, 

 identical with the others, in the same place, 

 and secured the female by stealing my hat 

 over the nest. The bird proved to be a 

 Nashville Warbler. The situation, the 

 sunken nest with moss-covered lip fl>ish 

 with the surface, the color and marking's 



of the eggs, and all suiToundings, exactly 

 coincide with the well-known description 

 of this species by A. Allen, coijied into 

 •• Birds of the Northwest.' 



Thus the season of '82 has narrowed m_v 

 circle of local inquiry by three species 

 which I had not positively fomid breeding 

 here before. — ./. J/. Tl'^., JVorinieh, (Jo)iii.. 



R.\RE Books. — John H. Sage. Portland, 

 Conn., has added to his library an original 

 copy of Bonajjarte's continuation of Alex- 

 ander Wilson's works, in four volumes, 

 and now very rare : also a copy of Dr. 

 De Kay's Birds of New York, in one large 

 (juarto volume. 



Purple Finch. — A friend of mine living 

 in this place has a vine covered piazza where 

 the Chipjiing Sparrows l)uild their nests 

 every year. Last Summer some birds, 

 which from my friend's descrijition I should 

 unhesitatingly pronounce Purple Finches, 

 destroyed several of these Chipping-birds' 

 nests with their entire consents. I wish 

 to enquire if any of our scientific observ- 

 ers have ever known the highly-musical 

 Purjjle Finch to do so disreputable an act ? 

 Jlr. Editor, why is this bii'd (so generally 

 known as the " Red Linnet") called by or 

 nithologists and in ornithological works a 

 ■• J^urp/e Finch r—Chas. Kd,c. Frloi: 

 •Jewett (.'If I/. Coini. 



The Bobolink, formerly very abundant 

 in this locality, has hardly made an appear 

 ance the present season. I have seen but 

 two or three pairs during the entire Sum- 

 mer, where previously from seventy-five 

 to one hundred pairs have nested. Their 

 non-appearance has caused me to keep'a 

 sharp lookout for them, and in many mead- 

 ows where they have been very common, 

 not a single bird could l)e seen this season. 

 What can have caused them to desert 

 their old breeding grounds ? — <'. <>. Trari/. 

 Taftsuille, Vt. 



[We have Imd an article in type for two months on this 

 snbjec'l, but the figure;* were i;iven from memory and we 

 were not sure of them, so the matter lays over until we have 

 time. The reason is i)atent, however, to those living on 

 the New Jersey marehee and the Delaware river and further 

 South.— Ed.1 



